High price, low loonie handicap Quebec’s NHL expansion hopes
Chump change.
That’s what potential NHL owners in Quebec City and Las Vegas put up last year when they paid $ 10 million to get in line for an expansion team.
They’ll need some real money if and when the league decides it wants to add a team or two. At the NHL general managers meetings in Florida this week, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the expansion fee would be at least $ 500 million U. S. That means, barring a reversal in the value of the Canadian dollar, Pierre Karl Péladeau — who is looking for a tenant for his new Vidéotron Centre — will be asked to fork over about 700 million loonies.
Peter Pocklington, the former owner of the Edmonton Oilers, called the figure crazy and when you consider that Forbes magazine valued 19 of the 30 NHL franchises below $ 500 million, he has a point.
When the Oilers and the Quebec Nordiques moved over from the WHA in 1979, the price tag was $ 7.5 million. The last expansion teams — Nashville in 1998, Atlanta in 1999 and Columbus and Minnesota in 2000 — each paid $ 80 million.
The figure is high because Bettman would have trouble selling the idea of expansion to owners who aren’t keen on sharing TV and other league revenues with new partners.
It will be interesting to see if the desire for an NHL team cools with the high price tag. I’ve always thought the NHL wants Las Vegas more than Sin City wants the NHL. Quebec wants a franchise because it’s a hockey market and or owned TVA Sports needs better content. It’s already losing money on its share of the national NHL contract, which includes only 20 per cent of the Canadiens’ regularseason schedule. Those losses will be even greater this spring with Montreal out of the playoffs.
The other big news coming out of the meetings was a plan to adopt smaller, form- fitting equipment for goaltenders next season, but Vancouver netminder Ryan Miller says there’s no reason to rush things. “They haven’t tested anything that we’ve seen or we haven’t had a discussion with the NHLPA,” Miller told reporters in Toronto. “If we haven’t had that discussion yet, where does that push our discussion to? We still have to approve all these things, so you’re talking maybe spring at the earliest. I don’t think it should just be like: ‘ Hey, you should open training camp and hey, here you go.’ I think it’s something where guys need to feel comfortable and I just think that doesn’t even leave time for testing.” Miller’s reaction isn’t surprising. Players and commentators often cite the rail- thin Miller — he’s 6- foot- 2 and 168 pounds — as an example of a goaltender who benefits from oversized equipment. Headaches f or Hab s: Mark Barberio won’t be in the Canadiens’ lineup Saturday night because of a concussion suffered in Wednesday’s victory in Buffalo. He’s not the only player in the organization with a headache. The St. John’s IceCaps announced this week that Michaël Bournival and Connor Crisp are suffering from concussions and are finished for the season. This is devastating news for Bournival, a one- time top prospect. His 2014- 15 season was cut by short by a concussion and the lingering effects limited him to 20 games in the AHL this season. No medal for Martlets: For the first time in three years, the McGill Martlets won’t be coming home from the CIS women’s hockey championships with a medal. The Martlets outshot the UBC Thunderbirds 34- 21 Thursday night in Calgary, but Danielle Dube was outstanding in goal as the Canada West champions posted a 4- 2 win. Gabrielle Davidson and Olympic gold medallist Melodie Daoust scored for McGill, but Daoust will miss the consolation portion of the tournament after suffering a shoulder injury late in the game. McGill won the national title in 2014 and was the runner- up to Western University last season.